Alternative Assessments
State Mandated
Dynamic Learning Map (DLM)
What is DLM?
The new DLM™ Alternate Assessment System lets students with significant cognitive disabilities show what they know in ways that traditional multiple-choice tests cannot. The DLM system is designed to map a student’s learning throughout the year. The system uses items and tasks that are embedded in day-to-day instruction. This gives teachers the opportunity to see what students know during the year when they still have time to change instruction to better support student learning. An end-of-the-year assessment is administered and used for accountability.
Tested Subject-Specific Skills
These skills include things like knowing a vocabulary word or being able to solve a multiplication problem.
Related Precursor Academic Skills
These are the underlying skills necessary to master the tested skill. For example, to solve a multiplication problem, a student first needs to understand what numbers are, be able to order numbers, etc. For each grade-level skill that is tested, there are numerous precursor skills.
Communication Skills
These are skills that allow students to communicate their answers. Communication skills are not limited to speech but include a variety of things like pointing or nodding.
Attention Skills
Before a student can show knowledge of a particular subject, the student must first be able to focus on the task or item presented.
When determining whether a student who is eligible for special education services should participate in the DLM or Smarter, the student’s IEP team must determine whether the student meets the following criteria:
Participation Criteria
- The student has a significant cognitive disability.
- The student is primarily being instructed using the Common Core Essential Elements and the Extended Grade Band Standards as content standards.
- The student requires extensive direct individualized instruction and substantial supports to achieve measureable gains in the grade- and age-appropriate curriculum.
- When the IEP team concurs that all three criteria accurately characterize a student’s current educational situation, then the DLM should be administered in order to provide a meaningful evaluation of the student’s current academic achievement.
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